Craig Hannah at a glance
- Current role
- Circuit Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Arkansas · State
- Judicial service
- Active
Craig Hannah
Circuit Judge · Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
Biography
Professional career
- Buffalo City Court Judge — Served from 2006, elected in 2006; became Chief Judge in 2019
- Presiding Judge, First Opioid Intervention Court — Established in Buffalo in 2017; recognized nationally for innovative treatment court models
- Acting Erie County Court Judge (2008) — Handled juvenile matters NYAppDiv4
Education
- Buffalo School of Law — J.D. (1995)
Additional information
- Justice, New York Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District — Appointed in 2022 and elected to a full 14‐year term in November 2022; term ends 2036.
- Associate Justice, Appellate Division, Fourth Department — Appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul on March 28, 2024; term ends December 31, 2026.
- Outstanding Jurist Award — New York State Bar Association, Criminal Division (2018).
- First Supervising Judge of Color in Western New York
- overseeing 11 city courts in the 8th Judicial District NYAppDiv4.
- Widely credited with transforming addiction treatment through the opioid intervention court model, which has been replicated in other jurisdictions.
- Craig D. Hannah is an Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and a judge of the New York Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District, known for pioneering the first Opioid Intervention Court in the U.S.
- Member of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness NYAppDiv4.
- Personal milestone: 23+ years of clean time as a person in recovery NYAppDiv4.
- International lecturer on treatment courts and addiction recovery.
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Remote appearances
Statewide
Arkansas Judiciary publishes electronic-hearing Zoom resources and court-user guides for remote proceedings.
Zoom Guides for Court UsersArkansas Judiciary: Electronic Hearings With Zoom ↗
Recording and broadcasting
Statewide
Arkansas Judiciary publishes state-district-court digital audio recording guidance as an official court resource.
AOC Provisional Guidelines for Digital Audio Recording in State District CourtsArkansas Judiciary: District Courts ↗
Sources
Identity source checked July 26, 2026.
Biography sources checked July 26, 2026.
Arkansas Judiciary official judicial roster
Identity source · HTML · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Arkansas Judiciary official judicial roster ↗Arkansas Judiciary: Electronic Hearings With Zoom
Statewide source · HTML · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Arkansas Judiciary: Electronic Hearings With Zoom ↗Arkansas Judiciary: District Courts
Statewide source · HTML · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Arkansas Judiciary: District Courts ↗